The College Times article -- StumbleUpon.com Will Make Us All Late for Something

Headline: StumbleUpon.com Will Make Us All Late For Something

Sub-Head: It’s impossible to be bored when you have “StumbleUpon”

By Josh Titus

Life Writer

How many times have you had a class cancel leaving you with nothing to do, but wait for your next class to start? Next time that happens, go to a computer lab and check out StumbleUpon.com. Instead of counting the tiles on the ceiling, surf the Internet with the expert help of StumbleUpon.com. You’ll be surprised what’s out there and realize what you are missing.

StumbleUpon.com is a website that helps you surf the web, and discover and rate websites, videos, pictures and news articles that are similar to your preferences. When you sign up (it’s free), you choose from 500 topics that interest you and from those preferences, StumbleUpon.com shows you websites that fit your personality. When you “stumble” and find a site you like, you click the “I like it” button on the add-on toolbar. Then that site is saved on your profile with StumbleUpon.com and slowly you are able to develop your profile with sites that interest you. But if you don't like the site, give it a thumbs down. There is a network of over 2 million people as of March 16, 2007 you can include in your web surfing. If you find someone who has similar tastes, you can add them as a friend and their “I like” pages are tossed into your “stumbling.” With each site you find you have the options of giving it a thumbs up or down, and/or writing or reading a review on it.

Garrett Camp, Geoff Smith, and Justin LaFrance founded StumbleUpon.com during the later years of college. Gradually the website began to attract “stumblers” as the company took off in Calgary, Alberta in 2002. Eventually Silicon Valley investor Brad O’Neil invited the three to California where the project started to take professional form. Last month they hit the 2 million-member mark, with thousands signing up each day. StumbleUpon.com became really popular in December 2006 when they added StumbleVideo. This trendy addition allows users to search through online videos coming from popular sites such as YouTube.com, Myspace.com, and Google video.

Fans of Mozilla Firefox (and newly added Internet Explorer) are able to add a plug-in of StumbleUpon on their web browser. When you’re bored and have time to kill, just click the “Stumble!” button that’s embedded on your toolbar and automatically you are finding filtered sites that are just for you. Andy Walker of g4techTV said, “It's kind of addictive ... when you have time to surf it really does allow you to find some unique and relevant sites." Haytham Bennani, from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, or better known as “khiZeus” on SU, said, “This is by far the best toolbar on the internet today. The functionality and versatility that SU provides is stunning, on par and beyond my highest expectations. The archive of stumble-able sites grows each and every day, and the content is absolutely amazing. Two huge thumbs up for this program and its developers. Can't wait for the toolbar to make it big!”

The Internet is a vast, seemingly never-ending screen of information. It has become a vital part of our society and grows more anchored every second. If used correctly, a person can substantially become more knowledgeable about everything this world has to offer. StumbleUpon.com is stepping stone in realizing how the Internet can be simple and catered for you.

Teaser: StumbleUpon can be addictive, so use caution when using it.

Pull quote: “The functionality and versatility that SU provides is stunning…” - Haytham Bennani

The College Times article -- Pandora.com Killed the Radio Star

Headline: “Pandora.com killed the radio star”

Sub-Head: You’ll never touch your FM radio again once you experience Pandora.com.

By Josh Titus

Life Writer

Let’s pretend music has DNA. Every band you know has a genetic make-up that makes it who it is (and what it sounds like). And just like people, we all have similarities and differences. For instance, a band such as Incubus consists of genes like hard rock roots, mild rhythmic syncopation, extensive vamping, major key tonality, and political lyrics. And like Incubus, the band Radiohead has similar genes of major key tonality, subtle use of vocal harmony, and melodic songwriting. But unlike Incubus, the singer Britney Spears possesses a genetic composition of pop rock qualities, danceable grooves, minor key tonality, a breathy female vocalist, erotic lyrics, and repetitive melodic phrases. Now if only someone understood that music was as complex as the same DNA that makes us unique. Well in 2000, someone did.

In 2000, Tim Westergren started the Music Genome Project and eventually Pandora.com. Pandora.com is a web site that offers free music euphoria. At Pandora.com, you type in a band’s name that you are into and it searches its huge database of music to find bands of similar qualities or similar DNA. Each of the hundreds of thousands of songs at Pandora.com are listened to and “hand-clicked” through over 400 musical attributes including melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm, form, lyrics, and hundreds of other attributes. After typing in your band and enjoying the music, you have the pleasure to customize that particular station (with each new band you enter, you start a new station). The band you entered becomes the root of that station and with each song that the Music Genome Project deems similar, you have presidential power to sign it, veto it, or even pocket veto it. By giving the song a thumbs-up, you approve it and give Pandora.com the chance to find other songs comparable to the new one you like. By giving the song a thumbs-down, you kicked it out of the station for good. If you don’t do anything, Pandora.com puts it on the back burner and gives the song another chance later. Pandora.com is all about you- the music lover. They want you to be able to enjoy great music you already know and to find new bands that already fit your tastes. As UVSC student Jacob Russell, who spends 1 to 6 hours a day on the site, says, “Pandora.com makes for good sexy time.”

While Pandora.com is great and easy to use, it has things that can be disappointing. Freshman Stuart Buchanan-Jackson says, “The only I don’t like is that you can’t specifically play a certain song.” Due to copyright laws, it cannot play a specific song you are in the mood to hear. You are able to type in the song and hear songs similar and eventually hear the song you want, but never right away. For that reason Pandora.com was #3 behind music pay-sites iTunes and eMusic on Entertainment Weekly’s Best Music Websites. Another thing that bothers 19-year-old Jessica Hocker is “it can only skip 10 songs within an hour.” It is another copyright stipulation that restricts you from having “radio ADD” and flipping through songs too quickly. But even with these slight imperfections, Pandora.com made the list for Time magazine’s “Top 50 Web sites of 2006.” That is quite the achievement today with the Internet being as innovative as ever.

Aside from Pandora.com (my personal favorite), there are many other good Internet radio providers. Here are a few of the others that I think are worth listening to:

• http://last.fm- LastFM comes in at a very close second to Pandora.com. LastFM is arguably more comprehensive with its music selection, it keeps track of everything you listen to, and it allows you to save a personal play list.

• http://live365.com- Live365 is a huge directory of specific Internet radio genres.

• http://accuradio.com- An upcoming-and-coming internet radio.

• http://radiotime.com- A newer internet radio station with promise.

• http://musicovery.com- A very interesting way to see music. This site lets you decide the between the dark and positive, and the calm and energetic music. And then it graphs it out for you.

BYU student Devin Carroll said, “Internet radio is by far one of the best ways to discover new bands.” Everyone has agreed with that. Jacob Russell discovered Hot Chip’s “Over and Over,” Jessica Hocker found Gatsbys American Dream’s “The Giant’s Drink,” Stuart Buchanan-Jackson came across Rocky Votolato’s “Passing White Daises,” and I found Kings of Leon’s “On Call.” So say goodbye to your FM radio because after listening to the commercial-free and financially free Pandora.com, you will probably never go back.

Teaser: What do The Police and Ok Go have in common?

Pull quote: “…Pandora.com makes for good sexy time.” -UVSC student Jacob Russell

CNN is to Digg.com as 62 Bars of Butter are to Eclaires

I use my TV for only a few things: watching football games, playing football video games (the occasionally Halo bout, too), watching DVDs and playing guitar hero (which sounds like a video game, but it’s so much more). But despite my idiot-jock stereotype, I love the news. I love the approaching 2008 presidential election coverage, the rapid climate change controversy, the sad stories of deaths, kidnappings, and murders, the celebrity gossip, the sports scandals, and the list goes on forever. But sometimes it’s hard to keep up on the world’s events when you dislike TV. That’s why I want to share how I keep up on what’s going on in our crazy world.

Everyone knows our mainstream news outlets like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, but mainstream news (and anything for that matter) can only suffice someone for so long. The world is a non-stop bakery of delicious stories of heroics, perils, achievements, despair and creativity. The mainstream media outlets fail to feed us all the tasty morsels of information we need and crave. They do a great job of giving us large portions of the expected segments of current events, but they fail to satisfy the little necessary craves of “real news.” It’s like going to Costco to grocery shop. You find lots of necessary and good food, but your choices are strictly limited and the options you do have are in bulk supply. The large portions give you plenty of some of your vacated stock, but you still need the smaller grocery stores for the items you don’t want contained in a five gallon bucket.

And once again, the answer to our problem is the World Wide Web. Here are some excellent sites that provide viable options for “real news” supplement:

Popurls.com- Popurls.com is a huge compilation of many of the second-tier news providers. It takes some of the most popular stories, articles, pictures, and videos of the day and puts them in an easy-to-browse format. As its popularity has grown, so have its user-friendly options. Feel free to arrange the site that fits you best. You will leave Popurls.com feed and unbuckling your belt.

Digg.com- This site is one of the most popular news sites on the Web, and it got that way because it provides you the news that everyone wants to know about. Digg.com is a popularity contest of news stories. It has a wide range of topics that filter through daily. It is also appealing because you have the opportunity to report stories yourself. If you find a source that is interesting, then “digg it.” The article will post, and if it’s interesting, others will “digg it” too. Digg it?

Reddit.com- Reddit.com is the sister (or brother) to Digg.com. Two heads are better than one, but if you had to only have one, I’d go with Digg.com. Reddit.com is great, but comes in 2nd place behind Digg.com’s stylish appeal and already commanding presence.

BBC.com- American news is…the best. As we can all see from certain political leaders, no one is perfect. It is always good to see things in another perceptive. I like the British perspective. BBC.com does a great job portraying world news in a clear ray.

Boingboing.net- A smart and abundant blog style of news. Sometimes this site produces pointless, but interesting bits of information and sometimes it gives a perspective into the world that one other news site is sharing.

Newsvine.com- A green, personalized news catering machine. This site gives off a mainstream media vibe, but it allows the news-watcher to pick and choose what appears on the homepage. Newsvine.com is supported with stories by people like you and me, and they provide everyone with a chance to fulfill their motto: Get smarter here.

This bakery of a world makes lots of good treats, but it can also make some bitter concoctions. The news reports truth and that truth does not always sit well in our stomachs. But it is important to know what is going on here. In Orem or Provo, in Utah, in America and in this world. The remaining year and the upcoming year are going to be full of news that will affect us for years to come. But whether it’s an election year, or hurricane season, or during another Korean war, and whether or not you are a news watcher, you know you have to go grocery shopping somewhere.